Method of manufacturing decorative glassware



Oct. 26 r926. 1,604,557

P. w. JENKINS METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DECORATIVE GLASSWARE Filed Sept.10, 1924 waoflooou a a o o a u o a gun oomm oooo Oououg INYENTOR M1 WMretested ca. 2a, 1926.

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nnrrso STATES PATENT,Omar, ,l

PAUL w. annxrns orormnnnnoit, PENNSYLVANIA, assienoaro Mercantile- Evansa r ess coivrreivv, or rrr'rsnnnen, PENNSYLVANIA, A oonroaa rrolt orrEnnsYL- Van a.

utn'rnon or mauuracrunrne n aconnrrvn eLAsswAREQ Application filedSeptember 10,1924. SeriaINo. 737,009.

neinvention relates to the manufacture of what is commonly known asincrusted glassware, or, more specifically described, that type ofdecorated glassware in which 5 the decoration consists of or includescoated relief or i11taglio, both of which are hereinafter referred to asrelief. Y i

The practice followed for manydecades in the'manufacture of decoratedglassware of the character herein contemplated has been first toform,usually by blowing, glass articles having plain surfaces, then to.form,

by the etching process relief designs on such areas of the glass asitwas desiredto have decorated with coated relief designs, and finally tocoat the so-called relief. design areas, usually with a suitable paintwhich 1s generally, but notnecessarily, gold. Later the coated articlesare fired to set-the coating. Not only does the etching step form arelief design, but it forms the design such sharp outline, and leavesthe surface 1n such condition that it readily retains the coatingsubsequently applied to it.

Articles so decoratedare very attractlve, but they are necessarily veryexpensive because of the time required for, and hence the expenseinvolved in their manufacture. By far the largest item ofexpense isincident to the etching process for forming reliei designs on the areaswhich are later coated. This is done by first coating an article withwax or some other material which is resistant to the action of acid,then removing the wax to leave the glass exposed in, a negative of thepattern which it 1s desired to ultimately have stand out in relief,

and finally immersing the thus-prepared article in an acid which attacksthe portions of the surface of the glass from which the wax has beenremoved, and leaves the wax-covered portions stand out in relief. Laterthe wax is entirely removed from the article, which further adds to theexpense of the relief-forming step.

Aside from the expense involved in this method, it has furtherobjectionable characteristics. When applied to thin blown glassware, andthis is the type of ware to which it is usually applied, the thinning ofthe glass by acid further weakens the inherently fragile articles.Furthermore, regardless of what type of glassware the method is appliedto, the relief design cannot for practical reasons, project from orbeyond the undecorat'ed surface of an article.

The object of this invention is to provide a method of manufacturingdecorated glassware of the type explained, whereby such glassware may beproduced ata greatly res ducedrcost, a method which does not weaken theglasswaraand a method which may be.

used to form relief designs which are either flush with or projectbeyond-the undecorated surfaces of glassware. According to thisinvention the relief forming step of the prior method of manu factureiseffected simultaneously with the shaping of an article of glassware froma mass of plastic glass, it having-been found that a coating-retainingrelief design maybe so formed. A mass of plastic glass is placed in amold having an area of its surface provided with a relief design, andpressure is applied to the mass to simultaneously shape the article andto form a coating-retaining relief design on an area of its outersurface. Later an adhering coating is formed on the relief area of thearticle.

While the relief design may be variously formed on the mold, as forexample by milling or otherwise cutting the mold with tools,

it is preferably formed by the etching proc-' ess. In other words, theprocedure which has heretofore been carried out on each glass articleis, according to the preferred manner of practising this invention,carried out on a mold with which thousands of articles may bemanufactured Preferably the design is etched as intaglio in the mold soas to appear as a relief design on the surfaces of the articles formedin the mold. This has the advantage that the thickness of the wall ofthe article is not diminished by the formationof the design. However, byetching or machining or both etching and machining the design may beformed as relief on the mold so as to appear as intaglio in thearticles. It has been found that by etching the design in the mold andby the proper application of pressure to a body of plastic glass in themold there results the formation of a relief design on the article whichis capable of retaining a coating subsequently applied to it.

The pressure applied to the glass to form an article with acoating-retaining relief design on its surface may be effected by therelative approach of cooperating molds in a glass press, but ispreferably effected by the blowing air used in a glass blowing machine.In either case high pressure is preferably used so as to produce arelief design having a ,sharp outline which facilitates adherence ofcoating. After the article is formed, its relief design area is coatedand the article is fired to further cause thecoating to adhere to thedesign area thus formed. As previously indicated, the coating ispreferably gold, but may be silver or other colors.

In the accompanying drawing there is shown a perspective View of a thinblown tumbler manufactured according to the method herein disclosed, theouter surface of its mouth being provided with a coated relief band. Ithas been found that decorated tumblers of the type so illustrated may bemanufactured according to this method at a cost less than one fifth ofthat incident to the method of manufacture which has been followed fordecades; that tumblers manufactured according to this method have thesame appearance as those made according to the old method; and that thecoating adheres to the relief area just as firmly as if the relief areaof each article were formed on the article by the etching process.

I claim:

1. The method of manufacturing an incrusted glass article, whichcomprises blowing a mass of plastic glass within a mold having an areaof its surface provided with a relief design, and by such blowingsimultaneously shaping the article and forming a shallowcoating-retaining relief design of sharp outline on an area of the outersurface of the article, and subsequently forming an adherent coating onsaid relief area of the article.

2. The method of manufacturing an incrusted glass article, whichcomprises blowing under high pressure a mass of plastic glass within amold having an area of its surface provided with an etched reliefdesign, and by such blowing simultaneously shaping the article andforming a shallow coating-retaining relief design of sharp out line onan area of the outer surface of the article, and subsequently forming anadherent coating on said relief area of the article.

In testimony whereof, I sign my name.

PAUL W. JENKINS.

